On 11/11/11, Kimya Dawson made wishes come true at the Black Cat by performing her signature lo-fi, soothing tunes to a small crowd of fans.
Spoonboy (aka David Combs), a member of the Max Levine Ensemble, opened the show, singing about serious topics like depression and religion, along with less morose topics like watching television as a teenager. Some of his tracks included “Stab Yer Dad,” “My Generation” and “Fireball.”
Clyde Peterson, the second opening act of the night, represented Your Heart Breaks, a collaborative music project of 50 members.
Peterson, dressed as Wesley Crusher from Star Trek, sang about getting trashed and the great times that followed with tracks such as “The Party in the Basement,” “120 Proof” and “God Speed John Glenn,” after which Peterson put a humorous twist on an imitation of Glenn’s venture into space.
Dawson finally emerged on stage, clad in a pair of flashy leg warmers and a guitar slung around her shoulder. The guitar had various drawings and sayings scribbled on it, such as “Zarathustra” in bold letters across the front.
After tailoring her greetings to certain members of the audience whom she had seen at previous shows, Dawson kicked off the show with “Singing Machine” off of one of her older albums, “Hidden Vagenda.”
Dawson stepped outside of her comfort zone to rap “Zero or a Zillion,” from her seventh and most recent album “Thunder Thighs,” without any help from her guitar or the musical talent of Aesop Rock, who toured with Dawson earlier this year.
Throughout the show, Dawson incorporated audience interaction. “Bobby-O,” a song from “Alphabutt,” Dawson’s children’s album, thrived off of crowd participation in the chorus, “Oh, Bobby-O!”
Dawson also played favorites from the “Juno” soundtrack, including “Tire Swing” and “Tree Hugger” and she invited the crowd to belt out the lyrics.
